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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Blanca (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Blanca. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Blanca is located in Costilla County.

To see how the shape of Colorado's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Costilla County: Alamosa, Conejos, Huerfano, Las Animas, Colfax (NM) & Taos (NM).

Below are the counties that are near Blanca. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Blanca:

  • Costilla County     (The home county of Blanca)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blanca, with the one closest to Blanca listed first.
    • Fort Garland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Garland City ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garland City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland City
      • Garland City is located in Costilla County
    • Russell ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • San Acacio
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • San Luis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Luis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Luis
      • San Luis is located in Costilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 692 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Luis <1>
    • Chama
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chama have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chama
      • Chama is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chama <1>
    • San Pablo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Pablo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
      • San Pablo is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Pablo <1>
    • Garcia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garcia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garcia
      • Garcia is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garcia <1>
    • Jaroso
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jaroso have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaroso
      • Jaroso is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jaroso <1>
  • Alamosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blanca, with the one closest to Blanca listed first.
    • Alamosa East
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Alamosa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Henry
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Mosca
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mosca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosca
      • Mosca is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mosca <1>
    • Waverly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Hooper
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Parma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
      • Parma is located in Alamosa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Parma
      • From Blanca to Parma
  • Conejos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blanca, with the one closest to Blanca listed first.
    • Sanford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
      • Sanford is located in Conejos County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sanford <1>
    • La Jara
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bountiful
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Manassa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Huerfano County
  • Las Animas County
  • Saguache County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blanca, with the one closest to Blanca listed first.
    • Liberty ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Duncan ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Blanca, see our County-by-County Page for Blanca.

Cemeteries Near Blanca ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blanca.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Blanca covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Blanca, with the one closest to Blanca listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Blanca had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Blanca had a population of 407 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Blanca, with the one closest to Blanca listed first.

  • Fort Garland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Garland City ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garland City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland City
    • Garland City is located in Costilla County
  • Russell ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lasauses
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasauses have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasauses
    • Lasauses is located in Conejos County
  • San Luis
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Luis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Luis
    • San Luis is located in Costilla County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 692 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Luis <1>
  • Muleshoe
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Muleshoe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muleshoe
    • Muleshoe is located in Huerfano County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Muleshoe
    • From Blanca to Muleshoe
  • Sharpsdale
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharpsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsdale
    • Sharpsdale is located in Huerfano County
  • Sanford
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
    • Sanford is located in Conejos County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sanford <1>
  • Malachite
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malachite have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malachite
    • Malachite is located in Huerfano County
  • La Jara
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • La Veta
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Manassa
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Los Cerritos
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Cerritos have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Cerritos
      • Los Cerritos is located in Conejos County
    • Hooper
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Parma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
      • Parma is located in Alamosa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Parma
      • From Blanca to Parma

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Blanca. See our List of 1890's Communities around Blanca.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Blanca ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blanca.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Blanca. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Blanca and those printed in the larger area surrounding Blanca.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Blanca.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Blanca:

The official website for Blanca: www.fone.net/~blancaco/

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blanca) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blanca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4372, Longitude: -105.5116    
<5>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<6>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Blanca, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025